James, Naomi, Mary, the children, and all those within their village would be leaving very soon, and she didn’t know how far away they would go, or how often she would be able to see them once they had gone. Without Jarrett at Cimarron she not only felt laden down by the wretched way that they had parted, but she was lonely and anxious as well, and she longed to be with people. Well aware now that the trails she might travel could grow dangerous, Tara went to Rutger first, hoping that now an excursion to the village would not be something Jarrett’s men would deny her. She tried to tell him casually that she wanted to spend some time with her sister-in-law, yet she could barely breathe with nervousness while awaiting his answer. She might have asked him to escort her on nothing more difficult than a stroll in the garden, he was so quick to try to help her. “I don’t know exactly where the camp is, Mrs. McKenzie, but I’ll send young Peter ahead, and he’ll find one of the village sentries.
